Burn My Heart and Hope to Live
by SnixX321
Summary: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy all in Zach's POV. His motives, his thoughts and his secrets behind those mysterious ways...R&R, please!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy…in Zach's POV. His motives, what he thought and the secrets behind his mysterious ways…**

**Disclamier: I'm not the wonderfully Ally Carter. I don't own the characters, just the plot. (This disclaimer goes for the whole story).**

**I hope you like it. :)**

_Thud_

"Ouch," Grant moaned as he lay flat on his back on the floor.

"I win," I smirk at him. "Again."

Grant glared at me and tripped me up but I was waiting for it so I jumped but what I wasn't expecting was for him to reach up and grab my leg. I fell but quickly recovered. We were both standing and sparring once again.

"Men," our P&E teacher, Mr. Lam, yelled, stopping our fighting. "We have an announcement."

The fifteen sophomore boys in the room gathered together in front of Mr. Lam. We waited for him to speak but instead, another man came up. I recognized him as Joe Solomon (we had a past, thanks to my mom).

"Hello," Joe flashed an award winning smile. "I am Joe Solomon but you will call me Mr. Solomon. I'm here because you will be going to another school just like this."

Silence. I'm sure we were all wondering what he was implying.

"This school is a spy school, also. The difference between your school and theirs? Theirs is an all-girls school," Joe waited for our reaction.

Some hooted, some started asking stupid questions like "Are they hot?" or "Do they work out?", and some of us stayed silent. I stayed silent.

"The school is called Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women," Joe continued. "But we just call it Gallagher Academy or just Gallagher. Next semester you will join these women in their training for being amazing spies."

Next semester was only two weeks away. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of there being an Academy for girl spies-in-training. I mean, I'd heard of all those great spies and some of them are girls.

"Before I leave, I'd like to show you a video on them," Joe nodded at Mr. Lam. Mr. Lam brought out the t.v. and we all sat down like kindergartners watching a puppet show.

Joe inserted the CD and hit PLAY

The first thing to flash on the screen was "GALLAGHER ACADEMY FOR EXCEPTIONAL YOUNG WOMEN" and a picture of the school. As soon as I saw the school, I knew what their cover was. Snotty, rich girls.

Next we saw the cafeteria. It was empty but then it switched to show the hundreds of girls sitting and chatting. They weren't loud, like we were. Suddenly, on the left side of the screen, a reached over and punched some other girl. We heard her scream "THAT WAS _MY _LIPSTICK, _NOT _ YOURS!"

The girls jumped at each other and the other girls broke them apart. Some just stood there, shaking there heads as if they saw this every day.

Next we were at what looks like there P&E room. In front of us were two girls. One who looked like Grant's type and another that had the perfect looks for a pavement artist.

The one who looks like Grants type was strong, obviously, and fast but the other girl was faster. Maybe not stronger but definitely faster. She used that to her advantage to pin the girl down.

"I win," she gloated and danced out of the other girls reach. She looked around her as the other girl got herself up.

"Again," the one girl grunted.

The screen switched to what looked like a carnival. We could hear the Comms unit.

"_Chameleon!_ Where are you? I can't find you!" we heard one girls say. She didn't sound too confident in herself.

"Right in front of you, Bookworm," another girl voice said. She, unlike that one girl, sounded very confident.

"_Where, _though? I can't—oh, nevermind, I see you!"

A few minutes later.

"Duchess. Bookworm. This is the Chameleon. Can you hear me?" said who I assumed to be the Chameleon.

It switched. It showed a man, a women and Joe Solomon.

"Nice try, Joe," the man chuckled. "I saw both of those girls."

Joe raised his eyebrows."You mean all three girls?"

"No, there were only two," the man chuckled then realized what Joe had said. "You mean…there was another girl?"

"Yes," Joe nodded.

"Who?" the man asked the other two adults.

"My daughter," the women said with a hint of pride. "She tracked you the whole time. Her mission was to find out what you drink with funnel cakes. She missed her ride and lost her friends but she got your drink bottle and made it all the way home by herself."

"She's good," Joe said. "Very good."

"You mean, she was there the whole time?" the mans eyes widened.

"Yes," Joe said again.

"Well, I really hope she's on my side when she gets out of here," the man chuckled.

The movie stopped.

"As you can tell from the movie, these girls are not something to trifle with. They don't like being beaten and they can get even with you do beat them," Joe said. "You will be shadowing them in two weeks. Be ready. They don't know who you are so you have the upper hand. Use that to your full advantage. You will need it."

Joe took out the CD and left the P&E room with half of us confused and the other half perplexed.

"Alright, men! Back to work!" Mr. Lam yelled.

**Sooo….what did you think? **

**Peace, Love and Baby Ducks**

**~SnixX321**


	2. DC Elevator Rides

_Thirteen days later…A.K.A. day before new semester…_

I spent days in the P&E room, training hard and long. I didn't stop unless I need to use the bathroom (really bad, though. We were trained to hold it), eat or sleep (though we were trained to, so far, go a day and a half without food and sleep).

Grant trained almost just as hard but ate just as much. Jonas…well, it was decided by Dr. Steve that he wasn't going to actually be _on _the field. Nick wasn't even going to be on the trip. He was going on an _actual _mission. Nick said that wasn't going to be near as much fun as living in an all-girls school for a semester.

The day before the semester ended and we started a new one, I was in the training room all day (they had given us the day off). Grant brought me lunch and trained with me all afternoon.

That night I went to bad, feeling more confident in myself than I had in a long time…

_Morning…_

I woke up to a blow horn. I didn't shoot up in bed, like most people would. Instead, I got dressed.

"Ready, men?" Mr. Lam asked fifteen minutes later as we gathered in the black and white van. Without waiting for an answer, Mr. Lam said, "Doesn't matter. We're on our way."

We rode for hours (eight hours, fifty eight minutes, 10 seconds, and 40 milliseconds) and finally came to a stop…at Washington, D.C. in our regular boy disguises. Hundreds of tourists were walking around, shopping, talking, and walking their dogs. Mr. Lam handed us the Comms unit and said, "See you next semester, men! You better be in shape or in you're in for trouble." Then left.

No sooner had we hooked our Comms unit up that we heard the voice of Joe Solomon.

"The girls will be arriving in fifteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds. You have that much time to find your documented papers on the girl who you shall be searching. Boys, _In the morning/Out of bed/Who needs a drink/After they're fed/Something addictive/ Or something alive/We need it any which way…_this will tell you where to go. Password: Gallagher. Good luck."

Static then nothing.

We stood there, like idiots, for a few moments.

"Where do you go in the morning…" Parker wondered.

"Food," Grant said immediately. "I mean, I got to the cafeteria to get food. That the first thing I do in the morning when I leave my room."

"But he said 'drink'," someone pointed out. "And it's addictive. What is it?"

"Coffee?" Parker suggested. "A lot of people are addicted to that and you drink it in the morning."

"Coffee shop!" I whisper-yelled.

"Let's go," Grant said.

"Wait, split up," Parker suggested. "It'd look weird if fourteen (Jonas was somewhere else, doing…whatever he does when he's not with us) boys are walking around. Five, yea. Ten, eh. Fourteen will look suspicious."

"Grant, let's go," I said to my best friend and we all split up. While the other boys tried to be cool about not going toward the coffee shop immediately, me and Grant walked like we had a purpose straight to the coffee shop. No one got in our way.

When we entered the shop, we went up to the front. We asked for the manager (because that seemed the logical thing to do) and said to him, "Gallagher." He handed over the papers.

We read over them.

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Rebecca Baxter) (Duchess)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Macey McHenry) (Peacock)_

_(Picture) (Cameron Morgan) (Chameleon)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl_)

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Elizabeth Sutton) (Bookworm)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

_(Picture) (Name of girl) (Code name of girl)_

Four names stuck out to me and Grant.

First, Rebecca Baxter (Code name Duchess). Why? Because Grant said, "Oooh! Look! She's hot!" like a little kid with candy.

Second, Macey McHenry (Code name Peacock). Why? Because she looked like a real b*t*h…and because she looked like Nick's type.

Third, Cameron Morgan (Code name Chameleon). Grant thought there was nothing special about her but I thought she looked amazing.

Wow. Where did that come from? I was Zachary Goode. _Don't let this girl shake you up your moves before you've met her, Zach, _I mentally scolded myself. I'm probably better than this girl anyway but she must have been _really good _to get that kind of codename…

Fourth, Elizabeth Sutton (Code name Bookworm). Because she looked like the girl version of Jonas. Grant thought that was funny.

"I call Duchess," Grant smirked. "Jonas can have Bookworm. I'm sure Nick will want Peacock when he gets back…and what about you? What about this Chameleon?"

"Who said I wanted anyone?" I smirked. Grant raised an eyebrow.

"You always want one," he pointed out.

"Yeah..well…not this one…" I shook my head at the picture of Cameron Morgan. "Why does Morgan sound familiar?"

"I don't know," Grant shrugged. "Look, there's Parker and Andrew."

We handed over the paper to them and went to take a spot on a park bench. Seven minutes later, Joe Solomon came back on the Comms.

_Static. _"Well done. The girls just arrived. Your job now is to make sure they don't get to their destination alone." _Static._

"Make sure they don't get to their destination alone…" Grant muttered as we scanned the area for the girls. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Obviously we're suppose to make sure we are with them to where ever they have to go," I mumbled.

"Question is. Where _is _their destination?" Grant asked. I didn't answer because two girls in uniforms were now walking down the sidewalk.

One was dancing while the other was just walking, obviously a little annoyed but she covered it amazingly well. Upon closer look, I recognized them as the infamous Chameleon and Duchess. I could hear some of their words and other words I only knew because we had just finished learning how to lip read.

"And here the view is indefinitely better," said Duchess. "Oooh! _I want one_."

She was looking right at us. Or, more at Grant than me. Chameleon glanced over at us and I could have sworn she rolled her eyes. Just a little.

"They're not puppies."

I almost laughed but instead, laughed on the inside. Grant chuckled, though.

"Come on," Duchess whined. "Let's go talk to them. They're really cute!"

I would describe myself as 'hot', not 'cute'. 'Cute' does not do me justice.

"Bex, we have a mission," Chameleon glanced at us again but kept walking. I noticed her change her walking direction slightly so they were walking away from us. Duchess didn't see because she was talking again.

"Yeah but we can multitask," Bex purred and looked back at us.

"No, Bex. Talking to civilian boys during a CoveOps exercise is bad idea. Trust me," I heard Chameleon say as they walked away. I swear I could hear some venom in her voice she said, "_It's all fun _and games until somebody their memory erased."

"Wow," Duchess stopped dancing and blinked. "You're really…"

"What?" Chameleon snapped and looked away from her friend. "I'm really what?"

"Not—"

At that moment, they were well out of ear shot and we couldn't see their lips to read them. Frustrated but not showing it, I got up. Grant followed eagerly. Probably not because he wanted to know what Duchess had been about to say but because he wanted to see more of Duchess.

We caught up to them fast. Fast enough to barely hear Bex say, "You don't have to pretend, Cam."

Wait, what? Now I'm confused _and _interested. I _had _to know what's up with Chameleon.

"Of course I'm over him," Chameleon said in a suspiciously calm voice. Like she had a million things to say but could only force herself to say that.

Wait. Him? There's a 'him' involved? I thought they went to an all girls school! I sped up just as Chameleon sped up.

"Bex," Chameleon said. I thought she was changing the subject until I followed her gaze at a lady that was in a business suit and talking on her cell phone.

"I see her."

We followed them for awhile with them noticing, even found out that they had forty-seven minutes to get to their destination. They only saw us once they merged with a group a girls that had similar uniforms to them. I had to give it to them. They were good.

We were following them, as you already know, and they merged with the girls. The girls they had joined, however, thought we were following them. We were just barely in earshot. It was quite funny what they said.

"I _love _your bracelet!" Chameleon gushed like she had been there the whole time to see that bracelet.

"Thanks!" the girl exclaimed then looked at Chameleon and Duchess. "Hey, are y'all with the group?"

"Yeah," Duchess lied easily and with certainty. "Oh my gosh! I left my name tag in my senator's office—we took them off to have our picture taken."

"Really? That's cool. Who's your senator?" the girl asked. I thought this would stump both of the Gallagher girls but I should have known better.

"McHenry," both of them said automatically.

Then that's when they noticed us.

"Are they still back there?" one girl whispered to the other one. The one girl looked back and saw us. She winked, grinned and looked back.

"They are _so _following us!" she said to the other girls. The Gallagher girls must have looked panicked because she explained. "These two hot guys have totally been checking us out."

"Oh," Duchess said and both Gallagher girls looked back at us. I admit it. I panicked for a second (no, I didn't show it). I thought the Chameleon or even Duchess would figure out we were following _them. _But, no, they didn't put two and two together.

Only five minutes later did I realize the real reason why they had merged with those girls. There was some guy following them and they cleverly lost him with a train. Then they split up.

"They're splitting up," Grant said. "I follow Duchess, you got Chameleon."

And before I had time to argue (not that I would have) Grant was following Duchess up the escalator. I looked for Chameleon but she had disappeared. Then I saw her heading toward the elevator. I smirked. This was my chance. I caught up with her and just as she was about to hit the button, I hit it for her.

"Hey," I smirked at her. She looked at me, as if assessing me for being a regular annoying boy or a threat. I must have passed with regular annoying boy because she said dryly, "Hi," and pressed the button to the elevator again.

The doors to the elevator opened and she tried to cut me off so I couldn't get in but I sidestepped to the other side and got in the elevator with her. She seemed annoyed and impatient. Well, I suppose I did too. I hadn't eaten all day.

I looked for something to talk to her about. I noticed her uniform.

"So, the Guggenheim Academy—" I said, pointed to the crest on her chest. I messed it up just to see if she would correct me. She did.

"Gallagher Academy," she said. She glanced at me then kept her eyes on the elevator door.

"I've never heard of it," I lied.

"Well, it's my school," Chameleon said as if she wasn't really interested in this conversation. That irritated me for some reason.

"You in a hurry or something?" I asked her.

Then she said something that surprised me. "I'm suppose my teacher at the ruby slipper exhibit. I've only got twenty minutes, and if I'm late, he'll kill me."

"How do you know?" I smirked because she had slipped up. She wasn't wearing a watch and she knew the time.

But she mistook my question. "Because he said, 'Meet me at the ruby slipper exhibit.'"

"No," I shook my head. "How do you know you only have twenty minutes? You're not wearing a watch."

I could tell I shocked her but she didn't show it. I was just that good at reading her. Wait…when did I get so good at reading her?

Even though I shocked her, she shocked me a little by how quick she came up with a lie. "My friend just told me."

"You fidget a lot," I said and she was. She kept shifting her weight or moved her feet. I saw her fiddle with her hands and her eyes kept looking anywhere but me.

"I'm sorry," she said. She made it sound like she really was sorry but I knew that she wasn't. "I have low blood sugar. I need to eat something."

That was a good lie. Not something I could argue with as a regular boy. But, as a regular boy, I _could _be nice.

So I pulled out some M&M's I had gotten early but hadn't eaten.

"Here. I ate most of them already," I handed her the pack of M&M's.

She seemed taken aback and didn't know what to do. "Oh…um…That's okay. Thanks, though."

I took them back and shoved them in my pocket. "Oh. Okay."

The doors to the elevator opened and she left quickly, not giving me a second glance. I knew then I could have just followed her or beat her to her destination but for some reason, I didn't. Instead, I did something totally un-Zachary Goode like.

"Thanks again for the candy," she threw over her shoulder as she quickly walked away.

It was about ten feet before she realized I hadn't gone some other direction. She spun around and narrowed her eyes.

"Where are you going?" she asked in a demanding manner. I smirked.

"I thought we were going to meet your teacher at the wonder wizard of Oz."

"We?" she folded her arms over her chest.

"Sure. I'm going with you," I said and waited for her to tell me off because somehow I just knew she would.

"No, you're not," she snapped.

I came up with some good reasons. "Look. It's dark. You're by yourself. And this _is _D.C. And you've only got—" I pretended to do the math. "fifteen minutes to meet your teacher."

She considered it. "Fine," and turned, not waiting for me. I had to say, she had one sassy attitude.

Just to make conversation, I said, "You can really walk fast. So, do you have a name?" I wanted to see if she would answer me honestly (most likely not but she's really surprised me so far).

"Sure," she said breezily. "Lot of them."

That doesn't exactly answer my question but I didn't push it. We walked fast toward the ruby slipper exhibit. I wasn't lying when I said she could walk fast. She never glanced at me either, as we walked. For some reason, that miffed me. Most girls I see (which wasn't a lot since I practically live at a detention center for boys) always swoon over me. It was a real change to see her ignoring me.

I decided it was time to get her attention. So I asked a question I knew most girls don't want to answer to other boys.

"Do you got a boyfriend?" I asked.

And I knew I had gotten to her. I saw her features change. Her shoulders stiffened, her lips tightened, and she turned her face away from me. I waited for her to blow.

She spun on me again. I could see her fighting to control her anger or maybe she was just arguing with the little voices inside her head.

"Look," she said and I could hear venom in her voice, whether it be for me or for someone else, I didn't know. "Thanks for the chivalry and all, but it really isn't necessary. It's just up here," she pointed but didn't look that way. "And there's a cop over there."

I had never seen her look at the cop but somehow she knew it was there. I smirked.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow at the D.C. police officer who didn't look like he was up to anything tonight except sleeping. "You think that guy can do a better job protecting you than I can?"

Actually, I'm sure I could have done a way better job at protecting her than that police officer could.

"No," she said calmly. "I think that if you don't leave me alone, I can scream and that cop will arrest you."

Sass, I tell you. This girl has it.

I stepped away and smirked. She kept walking but she must have felt bad or something because she turned around and said, "Hey, thanks anyway." and without further ado, left me. I waited till she was out of site then I went around the back of the museum, snuck in and went to the ruby slipper exhibit. Joe Solomon was waiting.

"Zach," he sounded surprised then must have had an 'aha' moment because he said, "Hide."

Chameleon came in not a minute after I had hid.

"You're four seconds late."

"But I'm alone," she argued.

"No, Ms. Morgan. You're not."

I took this as my cue to come out. I stepped out, smirked at her and said, "Hi again, Gallagher girl."

She stared at me and I felt funny. Like I should make sure I looked perfect, _was _perfect under those eyes of hers.

"Nice work, Zach," Solomon said.

Then she said something to make me think Solomon had lied to us.

Something that made me respect her even more.

Something that made me irritated at her.

Something that let her have the upper hand.

"Hi, Blackthorne boy," she smiled.

**How much do you wanna bet all of you knew I was going to end it there? How did you like the chapter? Good, yes?**

**:)**

**~SnixX321**


	3. Gallagher Academy

**I'm really enjoying doing this story. Like the reviews so far. Hope you like this chapter!**

I gaped. Mr. Solomon blinked so I'm guessing he didn't know that Chameleon knew about my school. That must mean she's _really _good. I've known Joe Solomon for a long time and he has never _not _noticed something. For this _girl_ to get away with knowing this _much classified _information without Solomon knowing must mean she's got some skills.

That, might I add, she needs to brush up on because, if I am correct, I just beat her and her friends at their own game. I remembered what Joe had said to us two weeks ago. _These girls are not something to trifle with…they don't like being beaten and they can get even if you do beat them._ I felt weary all of a sudden. What else did these girls have up their sleeve if they knew about my school?

Then I scolded myself. _I'm Zachary Goode. I am _not _afraid of girls, especially these girls. _

"Very good, Ms. Morgan," Solomon said. She was beaming. "But not good enough." Her face went red. I thought that was funny. I smirked at her. She glared at me. I smirked wider. She rolled her eyes.

"Your mission was… what?" she asked. Her voice was steady, despite her embarrassing moment there. I admired that about her (not that she would know that or I would tell her). "To keep us from achieving our mission?"

She had a creative mind, which was good and not so good for spies like her.

I cocked my head and raised both my eyebrows. "Something like that," I smirked. Then I decided I might as well tease her. It was funny when she was annoyed. "I thought I could just make you late for your meeting. I didn't think you'd actually tell me where it was and walk me halfway there."

Instead of answering, she glared. I saw her contemplating something behind those eyes of hers. Somehow (don't ask me why. I don't know _why _I'm feeling like this toward her…_yet_) I felt a bit guilty, like I hit a soft spot in her and it hurt her.

She got jostled up in a crowd that had just came in and then blinded by a camera. While Solomon reached in and saved her, I left. I didn't stop till I was out of there. The van we had come in was there. I thought it Mr. Lam again but I remembered I wouldn't see him until next semester. There was some guy there and I knew we had to get in.

The guys were rowdy the entire time, talking about all the girls. I kept thinking about Chameleon. I know I told Grant I wasn't interested in her but I was. I was silent the whole hour we drove to Gallagher Academy.

The other fourteen sophomore boys were really excited. I could see why. We practically _lived _in a detention center. That's not exactly attractive to any girls. I mean, the girls we do see. We hardly ever go out. Mostly for P&E but that's just in the fields around the school.

We stopped to get some snacks and drinks. When I glanced out the window, I noticed we had just passed a museum…a museum that we had passed twenty minutes ago when I looked out the window. I nudged Grant. He looked over, a little annoyed because just a moment before he been explain to one of the guys what Duchess looked like.

"What? What it is?" he asked.

"We just passed a museum," I told him.

"And?" he rolled his eyes. "There _are _museums in the world, Zach. I believe you were in one today…"

"I was but I meant," I said, now annoyed at him. "That we just passed a museum that we went by twenty one minutes and fourteen seconds ago."

"Oh," Grant said. "I guess we're doing roundabouts. I mean, you got to give the girls time to get ready for us…we're not exactly something you can handle without preparation."

I rolled my eyes but inside I agreed.

We ended up doing roundabouts all night. No TV. no games, no nothing. Except each other. This would be irritating to others but to us, we were used to it. Some of us slept, some of us stared out the window. Grant slept the whole time. I think I napped for fifteen minutes and twenty seconds.

Finally, when the morning sun came over. I saw us take a rode that we hadn't been on before. Then a school started to form in our vision. There were manicured lawns, stone statues, everything that screamed 'RICH PEOPLE SCHOOL!'

We went through about five security tests. The first one was going up the street. I don't think most people realize this but there are sensors under the street that scan the width, length, and weight of the car, which would give a good estimate of how many people are in the car. The second test was about half way up the street. Instead of under the street, they had camera's (micro cameras. I could only see about three from the right side but there were probably more on the left). Then we came to the actually gate. There were two security tests here. One was in the statues that were perched on either side of the gate. There were cameras hidden in there. I only saw them because they flashed a little in the rising sun.

The fourth test, which was at the gate, was about five security guys. All five of them trained their guns on us as we pulled up. Two of them checked the whole van for weapons. Two of them checked the outside for anything out of the ordinary. The last one questioned the driver on why we were here.

When we finally parked and were walking up the front steps at six twenty eight that morning, we entered the last test. It was under the walkway (like the one in the street). Every time I took a step, a sensor checked my position, my weight, height, width, etc.

Finally, we entered the school. This was a top-notch school. The security was impressive (oh, did I mention several obvious camera's? We passed seven on our way in but the hidden cameras were double that). They got us from every angle with the cameras. I knew they know were here.

The lawns had statues here and there and the school was pretty big but I'm sure (if their CoveOps was anything like ours) there was more underground. They kept up appearances with outsiders but they must have considered us not-a-threat because when we entered there were pictures of spy girls.

Just girls. I don't think I saw a single boy spy on their walls. They showed dates, times (all the way down to the millisecond), when, where, who and a lot of other things. In a trophy case was spy gear, some old and newer stuff. I'm sure when they had guest who didn't know about spies the trophy case turned so it had actually trophies in it. We also passed Gillian Gallagher sword. Some of the boys thought they'd try to get it out.

"Don't," a girl came up. She looked like a senior. "Are you _crazy_!"

"What?" a boy said dumbly.

"That," she pointed to the sword while raising an eyebrow to all us boys. "Is Gillian Gallagher sword, a very precious school heirloom. You don't think we'd protect it?"

"Uhh…" some of the boys faltered. She rolled her eyes then turned serious.

"I asked a question. Use your manners and answer my question!" she said quietly but fiercely.

"Yes…"

"Correct," she nodded. "Now, I dare you to try and touch it."

Nobody moved. Somebody's footsteps were coming closer but they were soft footsteps. Footsteps that only a trained spy or spy in training would hear.

"Katy," another girl exclaimed as she came around the corner. "Come-"

She saw us and raised an eyebrow. Then she glanced at Gillian's sword. A knowing smirk came to their face.

"Are they trying to get Gillian's sword out?" she asked Katy.

Katy laughed. "Yes. Luckily I came around before their heart stopped from the shock they'd get!"

"Are girls here at Gallagher always up this early?" a guy from the back asked. Katy smiled.

"No. Most seniors wake up early. But the sophomores and freshman…" Katy laughed. "They _love _their beauty sleep."

"Katy, you were like that too," the other girl rolled her eyes.

"So were you!" Katy retorted.

"I still woke up earlier than you!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Girls!" Solomon appeared, looking amused. "I believe breakfast is about to be served…"

"Right," Katy smiled. "Sorry. We'll see you in CoveOps, Mr. Solomon!"

They ran up some stairs that was to our right.

"Sorry about that, boys," Joe apologized. He even sounded sorry but I knew better than to know that he was sorry. "The girls, they're a little…" he looked for the right word but words seemed to fail him.

"Anyway," he continued. "You will be meeting the girls in the dining room for breakfast. Dr. Steve will be here in five minutes. He is arriving by helicopter," Mr. Solomon turned to go up the stairs Katy and her friends had went up but turned back. "And I'd heed what Ms. Creed said. These girls, they do love their beauty sleep. I suggest you be quiet because you are to follow me and we are going down one of the halls that hold the girls' rooms."

We walked up the steps and entered a hallway. We took a left then hung right. Left, right, right, left. These hallways were a little confusing. When we got to the living hall, a few of the doors were open but nobody was awake.

It looked like the sophomore hall. Some of the girls had their doors painted different colors. Purple, pink, green. They had small white boards on each door that had different names.

_Tina!_

_Anna!_

_Sarah!_

_Leah!_

You imagine girls' rooms might be neat…clean…pink…pink…clean…neat…pink…clean….and of the likes. But these girls rooms were…messy. Messy, disorganized, and multicolored. One of the purple doors were closed and as I passed, I read the white bored.

_This room belongs to…_

_Peacock ;)_

_Bookworm :)_

_Bex :D_

_And_

_Chameleon_

_Enter if you dare_

So this was her room…I wonder what it's like inside… Or why she doesn't have a smiley face next to her name..? Or why Duchess didn't use her codename like the other girls. Or who was Peacock.

I wondered a lot of things.

We entered a room that had a woman (I recognized her from the video Solomon had showed us two weeks ago) and Dr. Steve.

"Hello," the woman smiled. "I am Headmistress Morgan. Nice to see you all in my school."

Nice greeting.

"I am honored to welcome Mr.S-"

"Dr. Steve," he corrected her.

"Dr. Steves'," she rephrased. "Student's into the school. You are here to learn alongside of the woman you will work with when you enter the real field. As you can…" there was a loud noise on the other side of the door. Not the doors we came through but the big double doors. "As you can hear, the girls on the other side of that door."

"But…" one guy mumbled. "We just saw them sleeping."

"Oh, the girls don't take long to get dressed," Headmistress Morgan smiled. There came a loud noise again. We heard a girl scream, "GET YOUR OWN TOAST, MEGHAN! THIS ONE IS MINE!"

From what I've seen so far, these girls were really possessive of their stuff.

"FOR YOUR INFORMATION, THIS _WAS _MY TOAST!" another girl yelled. This was like that lipstick thing on the video two weeks ago all over again…

"WAS NOT!"

We heard some banging, like they were fighting it out.

"STOP IT!" I heard one girl yell. The noises stopped a few minutes later and we heard them go back to their dinner.

"They seemed to like their food," Grant laughed. Other boys joined in.

"They do," Headmistress Morgan laughed. "I think we sent one girl to the infirmary the other day because she and another girl argued over an egg…"

We laughed again.

"Anyway," Ms. Morgan smiled again. "I will go in there and introduce you," she looked at Dr. Steve. "Wait for my cue."

"Excellent."

A few minutes later…

"Excuse me, ladies, but I have an announcement to make."

I don't know if this was Dr. Steve's cue but he opened the doors anyway. Their reaction was priceless. I heard forks, spoons and knives clatter as they hit the table. Heads turned. Mouths gaped. Eyes widened. Priceless, I tell you. Headmistress Morgan kept talking as we moved toward the front. I don't know what made me do it but I searched for Chameleon. Oh, she was just like most (*cough* all *couch*) of the girls in the room. Staring at us. What's wrong with that statement? She wasn't staring at _me. _She was staring at all of the boys, not just me in particular.

She looked annoyed, angry, annoyed, humiliated, annoyed, confused, annoyed, and did I mention annoyed? I mean, I could understand that. We did just barge in on their much loved breakfast.

And when did I get so good at reading her emotions?

Dr. Steve went up to the front (we must have missed Ms. Morgan's speech) and correct Ms. Morgan again.

"Dr. Steve."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me _Dr. Steve_."

"Of course," Ms. Morgan looked annoyed (much like Gallagher Girl did. Wait…Headmistress Morgan…Cameron Morgan…same features…same annoyed faces…they're related!) **(A/N: I just rolled my eyes because that sounded so un-Zach like but it made me smile a little)**. "_Dr. Steve_," Headmistress Morgan continued. I see where Gallagher Girl got her sass. "And his students will be spending the remainder of the summer with us."

Whispers went through the hall. They grew louder until Ms. Morgan started speaking again.

"They will be attending your classes, eating with you at meals," she said. "Ladies, this is a wonderful opportunity and I hope you will use this time to forge bonds of friendship that you can carry throughout your lives."

I looked at Gallagher girls table. One of the girls leaned in and whispered something then gestured to me. I decided to play it cool so I leaned back and smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and looked back.

Grant nudged me and started going on about Duchess again.

_An hour later…_

We walked down the hall with Dr. Steve. It was just me, Grant, and Jonas (another best friend of mine). We were going to our first class with the girls. There were classes going on all around us. Dr. Steve was going to leave after all the boys had been settled in.

Together, we went into the classroom that Dr. Steve gestured to.

"Knock knock," Dr. Steve said and opened the door. "Good morning, ladies."

The teacher looked at us. He looked irritated at being interrupted and impatient to continue. "Can I help you, Dr. Sanders?"

"I say, your voice sounds so familiar," our Headmaster said. "Have we met before?"

Some of the girls looked amused, like they knew a secret.

"No," the teacher said coolly. "I'm quite sure we haven't."

"Never did any work at the Andover Institute, did you?" Dr. Steve pressed on.

"No."

"Oh well," Dr. Steve laughed it off. "Shall we have the boys introduce themselves?"

"I have learned, Dr. Sanders—" the teacher objected.

"Steve."

The Gallagher teacher went on talking like he hadn't spoken. "That ours is an occupation where names are—at best—temporary," he said then saw the look on Dr. Steve's face. "But if they must…"

Jonas stepped forward with a little push from our Headmaster.

"Um…I'm Jonas," he said awkwardly. "I'm sixteen. I'm a sophomore—"

"Thus your enrollment to this class," the teacher said. "Welcome, Jonas. Please have a seat."

"Excellent job, Jonas," Dr. Steve said. "Excellent job. Now, Jonas here is on the research track of study. I don't suppose any of young ladies could show Jonas around?"

"Humph!" said a girl who looked just as skinny as Jonas. She glanced back at the girl behind her – Duchess/Rebecca/Bex—and glared at her before turning to look at Jonas.

"Excellent!" Dr. Steve pointed to Liz. Some of the girl's looked at Liz as if they surprised she (sort of) volunteered herself to be a tour guide for the boy guest (s).

"Jonas, you can spend the day with Ms…"

"Sutton," the girl said automatically. "Liz Sutton." She smiled sweetly at both Dr. Steve and Jonas.

"Excellent," Dr. Steve said _again_. "Now, Grant, if you would—"

"I'm Grant," Grant slid into the seat opposite of Duchess. She flipped her hair, smiled and looked the other way. I saw Gallagher Girl do a double take at her friends' behavior. I smirked.

"I'm Zach," I said as I walked to the back of the class, where Chameleon sat. Most of the girls looked hopefully but they're faces fell when I passed. "And I think I've found my guide."

I was looking straight at Chameleon and when she turned, her eyes bore into mine.

"Excellent!"

**I don't even want to know how many times I wrote "Excellent!"….**

**Anyway, how did you like it? It's a long chapter (over two thousand words). I like writing this story because it so complicated to keep Zach in character but still interesting! I like the challenge. :)**

**Will write more next year! **

**Happy New Years! I hope this year was everything you wanted it to be and so much more!**

**Peace, Love and Baby Ducks,**

**~SnixX321**


	4. Dancing and Claims

All throughout class, she didn't once look at me. She actually looked frustrated with herself. But I liked to watch her work. When we took the pop quiz, she looked really concentrated and when the teacher—whose name I learned to be Mr. Smith—was lecturing she actually looked like she was listening.

The few times I looked at Grant and Jonas were interesting. Jonas and his tour guide Liz Sutton were totally engrossed in the Countries of the World lesson. Grant and his tour guide Rebecca Baxter liked looking at each other. They would look at each other, smirk, look away and do it all over again every two minutes.

At the end of class, Gallagher Girl grabbed her stuff and walked out the door, not waiting up for me so that left me to catch up with her.

"So, we meet again," I say as I caught up with her in the hallway, which was packed with girls.

She didn't answer. I tried again.

"So _this _is the famous Gallagher Academy."

"Yes," she finally said something. I waited for her to continue (if she would. She surprised me at times). "This is the second-floor corridor. Most of our classes are down this hall."

I pretended not to hear her. Oh, I heard her though. It wasn't something that was really important though.

"And _you're_…the famous Cammie Morgan," I said slowly and waited for her reaction. I had used the name I had heard Bex (Rebecca/Duchess) use for her and I wanted to see how she would react to me saying it.

She stiffened and that look passed her face again. "Come on," she mumbled. "Culture and Assimilation is on the fourth floor."

She turned and started down the hall. I had to walk fast just to keep up with her. I admired her from behind, letting her lead. I hadn't noticed before but she had a nice form. Strong, skinny, toned legs. Curves I knew most girls would die for. A walk that had casualness and grace at the same. But she also had ordinary features to her. I guess that's what made her such a good pavement artist.

Then her words registered with me.

"Who," I stopped. "Did you just say you're taking me to _culture _class?"

Cammie looked not in any way offended. Instead, she got that expression I noticed she had on a lot when I was around. Annoyed. "Yes."

I grinned. "Boy, when they sat you've got the toughest curriculum in the world…they _mean _it."

She flexed her jaw (You know, I'm starting to wonder if she knows that she does all this) and glanced at the stairs we were passing. Then she regained her posture and began pushing through the crowds again.

"Culture and Assimilation has been a part of the Gallagher curriculum for more than a hundred years, Zach. A Gallagher Girl can blend into any culture—any environment. Assimilation isn't a matter of social graces," she stopped as we came to the classroom door. "It's matter of life and death."

I almost took her seriously. Really. I almost did. That was, until the teachers voice drifted from inside the room.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we will be studying the art of…the dance!"

I laughed (on the inside) at the expression on Cammie's face. Then I took a chance.

I leaned forward, close to her ear, and whispered, "Yeah…Life. And. Death."

We went into the classroom. Chairs and tables had been pushed aside. There were flowers on the grand piano. The teacher stood alone in the middle of the floor, beneath a crystal chandelier.

"I have been saving this very special class for the arrival of our very special guests," she said.

I smirked and whispered to Gallagher Girl, "Did you hear that? I'm special."

"That's a matter of—" she started to retort back but the teacher interrupted.

"Oh, Cameron dear, would you and your friend like to demonstrate for the rest of the class?"

I swear she blushed scarlet and was probably about to refuse (politely refuse, I should say) but the teacher pulled us into the center of the floor. While Cammie might be feeling a bit wary of dancing with, I was enjoying it way too much. I saw Grant and Jonas out of the side of my eye. They were grinning like fools or, Grant was. Jonas was smiling at me then at Liz then at me then back at Liz.

"You must be Zachary Goode. Welcome to the Gallagher Academy. Now, I must ask that you place your right hand firmly in the center of Cameron's lower back," the teacher instructed. I did as told and felt Gallagher Girl stiffen under my touch. She must not be enjoying it as well as I was.

"Okay, now, everyone find a partner. Yes, girls, some of you will have to take turns being the boy," the teacher instructed. Cammie didn't relax at all.

I saw Jonas and Liz pair. That should be an interesting pair. Jonas was clumsy and from what I could tell, so was Liz. Grant and Bex paired up, of course. They seemed to be a smoother pair.

"Ladies, you will place your right hand firmly in your partner's palm," the teacher said. Cammie did so. I smirked.

"What's the matter, Gallagher Girl?" I narrowed my eyes at her. Her mood on me dancing with her was really putting a damper on my spirits. "You're not actually mad about yesterday, are you?"

The music started and I heard the teacher again. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we will begin with a basic box step. No, Rebecca, if you're going to dance with Grant, then you _must let him lead_!"

I glanced at Grant. He was being whirled around by Bex. I could tell her was getting dizzy but enjoying it.

The teacher came over to me and Cammie. She put one hand on me and the other on Cammie. "Hold your partners tightly," and pushed us together.

We began to dance.

My day was just made.

_Later in the week…_

These girls could gossip. There was so many rumors, you'd have to really dig deep and pay close attention to catch the facts. Plus, after the first day, they took an extra hour to get down to breakfast. Not that mattered to us. Only a few boys woke up really early to make themselves 'pretty' (they said 'handsome', I say 'pretty').

One Friday morning, I had entered the Grand Hall and searched for Cammie. After our first day, she seemed to think that her tour guide duties were over. I tried to annoy as much as possible. Why? I have no clue. I could tell you every school in the country or tell you the British constitution in German. I could not tell you why I was so interested in Cammie or, as I frequently call her, Gallagher Girl.

I was at the waffle bar (these girls have a waffle bar! That's more than Blackthorne has) when Mr. Solomon came up.

"Hello, Zachary," he said. "Nice to see you again."

"Joe," I said as I grabbed a few waffles and put some butter and syrup on them.

"How have you been? I see you've been spending quite a lot of time with a certain Cameron Morgan," he says now.

"She's my tour guide."

"Surely you've seen enough of the school."

"Nope."

"Well, I should warn you, Zach. Cameron Morgan has a very complicated past," Mr. Solomon said.

"So do I," I told him. "Well, I guess that means we are perfect for each other."

"Do me a favor, Zach," Mr. Solomon said. "And stay away from her. She's been through a lot. I don't think she needs you to add to that."

"Who said I would add to her problems? May be I could fix some of them," I say.

"Trust me," Mr. Solomon said. "You probably couldn't."

"Trust is asking a lot of me, Joe," I smirked at him.

"Fine," Joe said dryly. "Just don't hurt her. As I said, she's been through a lot."

I glanced at Gallagher Girl. She was talking to a girl I know as Tina Walters. I watched them, reading her lips and straining my ears just to hear what she says to Tina.

"Tina!" Gallagher Girl gasped. She looked worn out, tired, and completely ready to drop onto a bed but she still managed to look surprised at whatever Tina Walters had just asked her. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, don't look now. He's staring at you," Tina said.

Oh, so they were talking about _me_? Now I really wanted to know what she was saying.

I saw Cammie glance at the sterling-silver orange juice pitcher and I knew she was watching me and Solomon watch her.

"So, do you like him?" Tina snapped her attention away from us. "Because, according to my research, you technically have dibs on Zach, since you talked to him first. If you want."

So now I'm Gallagher Girl's possession. Alright. I could deal with that. **Smirk**

"Tina," Gallagher Girl didn't even look at me. I thought she would say something like "Zach is mine. Hands off, girls" and wink at me. Of course, I hoped to much. I stiffened as I waited for her to say her next words. Solomon noticed. "I officially…relinquish my claim to Zach."

Tina smiled and went back to her other conversations.

"Well, there you have it," Solomon sounded amused.

If she didn't want me…I was just going to make it that much harder of her to get away from me.

Later, in CoveOps, Solomon led us to some vans. The girls were quite. I sat on one side of Solomon, Grant on Solomon's other side. And who else would be there except for Dr. Steve.

"I say, Mr. Solomon," Dr. Steve kept talking even though no one was listening. "You've done an excellent job with these young ladies. Just excellent. You ladies need to pay attention to this man. He's a living legend."

"Just as long as they remember the most important part of that is the _living_," Mr. Solomon said. Some of the girls glanced at him, some looked amused. Gallagher Girl looked away.

"Today is about the basics, ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Solomon explained. "I want to watch you move; see you work together. Pay attention to your surroundings and remember—half of your success in this business comes from looking like you belong, so today your cover is that you're a bunch of private-school student's enjoying a trip to town."

Bex piped up, "What are we really?"

"A bunch of spies," Mr. Solomon pulled out a quarter. "Playing tag. Brush pass, Ms. Baxter. Define it."

Bex didn't miss a beat. "The act of covertly passing an object between two agents."

"Correct," Mr. Solomon said I as I saw Cammie glance at me. "The little things can get away from you, ladies and gentlemen. The little things that matter."

"So right you are," Dr. Steve started talking again. I almost grinned. "As I was telling Headmistress Morgan just this—"

"It's you and the street today," Mr. Solomon continued, ignoring my Headmaster. "Today's test migtht be low tech, but this is a trade craft at its most essential."

He pulled out a box of comms units and cameras. "Watch. Listen. Remember to communicate. Observe."

"Pair off," Mr. Solomon said as the can stopped. "Blend in and remember, we'll be watching."

I saw Grant pair off with Kim Lee and Cammie glanced at Bex. They nodded at each other and made their way to the doors but Mr. Solomon stopped them.

"Oh, no, Ms. Morgan. I believe you already have a partner," He gestured at me.

If looks could kill, Mr. Solomon would have been dead.

"Come on, Gallagher Girl," I called to her from behind my shoulder as I headed to the town's square. "This should be fun."

The whole time we walked, she seemed tensed. That look I'd see before was back on her face but I could see her trying to hide it. I wonder what was wrong. I mean, this was her hometown. What could make her be so tense?

May be it was me. After all, she did say she didn't want me.

I decided to see if I could get something out her or maybe it was because I just wanted to talk to her.

"So, come here often?" I asked.

She didn't even look at me. "I used to, but then the deputy director of the CIA made me promise to stop."

I laughed but I could have sworn I saw her stiffen—again, she does that a lot around me or maybe she did that to everyone. I didn't know…yet.

In my comms unit, I heard Mr. Solomon say Tina Walters was 'it' and gave her some advice on how to make it a clean and quick brush pass. On the other side of the square, Tina passed the quarter to another girl.

"Well done."

"So what about you? Exactly where does the Blackthorne Institute call home?" she asked.

"Oh, that's classified," I cocked an eyebrow and watched her face change form curiosity to anger.

"So you can sleep inside the walls of _my _school but I can't even know where yours _is_?"she sounded really annoyed.

"Trust me, Gallagher Girl, you wouldn't want to sleep in my school."

I heard Mr. Solomon ask Bex a question as she walked down the street with Grant (he must have re-paired with Bex). She replied without a moments hesitation.

"What do you mean? Why can't you tell me?" Gallagher Girl asked me. Oh, _now _she was interested in me, you know, _after _she found out I know something she doesn't.

"Solomon is good," I said just to change the subject as said Solomon corrected Eva Alvarez.

"Yeah. He is." I got the feeling she wasn't in the mood to talk to me. Oh, well. I was going to talk to her anyway.

"They say you're good, too," I say. I'm not stupid, I've heard the CIA rumors about The Chameleon.

"Okay, Zach, without turning around, tell me how many windows overlook the square from the west side," Mr. Solomon asked.

"Fourteen," I said. I had counted them earlier. "They say you're a real pavement artist," I leaned forward. "You know, it's probably a good thing that we got to tail you in D.C. If you'd been following me, I probably never would have seen you."

I thought she'd take it as a compliment and rethink her 'claim' on me but she turned around and walked away. I saw Bex bump into her and brush pass the coin to her.

"Nice pass, Ms. Baxter," Mr. Solomon said.

I caught up with Cammie, just a little ways behind her. I saw her turn down a side street, then pass a pharmacy. She looked deep in thought. That was, until some boy stepped in front of her and said, "Cammie, is that you?"

**Cliffy. :) How did you like it? It's a little bit shorter than my other chapters.**

**This is my first update of 2012. :) How was your New Years? Mine was great. I watched the New York ball drop on TV. Did y'all? **

**Anyway, happy 2012! :) Don't forget to review!**

**~SnixX321**


	5. Jimmy

**I am SO SORRY I haven't updated. The reason why I haven't updated is complicated so I'm not going to explain it but I do hope you like the update. **

He was staring at Cammie. She was staring back at him. Her expression went blank, like she was on pilot mode. He looked sad.

What on earth is happening?

He smiled. "Hey, Cammie, I thought that was you."

She didn't answer. When I got a good look at her face just to make sure she wasn't going to brake down into tears, I saw her stiffen.

"Cammie? Are you okay?" the boy asked. Cammie still didn't answer. I was beginning to think I should go over there. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

I saw Cammie finally relax enough to say, "Oh, it's a…school thing." She said it warily. I was missing something. I was missing a part of this story.

I didn't like not knowing.

The boy recoiled slightly. If Cammie noticed, she pretended not to.

"So, how have you been?" she asked him.

"Okay. How about you?" he said.

"Okay," Cammie shifted her weight. The tension between them was obvious and I didn't like it one bit. Don't ask me why.

"So we're both okay," he said, breaking out a smile. "Good for us."

Before Cammie could say anything (or at least I think she was going to say something), I heard a muffled voice. I only caught the end of the person sentence.

"Oh my gosh, Cammie! It's great to see you!" the new girl said. Cammie, I saw, forced a smile. This new girl was really energetic. I'd be a little nervous too but I had a feeling the girls eagerness was not what made Cammie seem so awkward.

"Hi, DeeDee," Cammie said. So that's her name. DeeDee. It suits her. "It's really..good…to see you, too."

It obviously wasn't.

Mr. Solomon's voice came over the comms just as the girl was speaking. I tuned into what Solomon was saying.

"Okay, Ms. Morgan, let's see you hand it off."

Cammie was listening to DeeDee ramble on. The boy was staring at my Gallagher Girl like he's never seen her before. I didn't like.

I decided to save her. Of course, I might get an ear full out of her later but still. It seems like the right thing to do.

I approached the trio casually, calling out, "Cammie, there you are!" I stopped next to her. "I was wondering where you'd disappeared to." Then, because I couldn't help it for the life of me, I turned to the boy. "I'm Zach."

The boy looked between me and Cammie, not smiling anymore. I held back a smirk, knowing that I was the one who had wiped that smile off his face.

Cammie looked at me then said (very politely, I might add) "Zach, this is DeeDee. And Josh. They're…"

So Josh was his name. I automatically knew that that name would never come out of my mouth. And they were what?

Gallagher Girl was lost for words but DeeDee saved her. "We're friends of Cammie's."

It did not take a genius to see that that was not the case.

"Zach and I…" Cammie started to say. I waited for her to finish and when she didn't, I saved her. Again.

"I got to school with Cammie," I lied.

"Really? I thought it was a girls' school?" DeeDee asked.

"Actually, my school's doing an exchange with Gallagher this semester," I shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I remembered Solomon saying that Cammie had to pass the coin on. _Perfect_, I smirked on the inside. I slide my hand into hers. The coin fell into my hand.

"Oh…That's really great!" DeeDee beamed at Cammie. Cammie forced a smile again.

I felt Cammie gaze on me. I wanted to squirm under gaze, like in the museum, but I didn't. That would be very un-spy-Zach like.

"Cam," I said softly. I like the way her name felt coming out of my mouth. "The van's leaving in ten." I looked at DeeDee and…_Josh_. "It was nice meeting you."

If I haven't told a lie by now (which, trust me, I have), I just told the biggest lie of my life.

"You too," DeeDee said as I turned and left, coin in hand. Joshy boy didn't say anything.

I heard Cammie about to leave after me. I don't know why but I didn't want to see her just now. For some reason, I was hurt she didn't tell me about Josh but then I realized she didn't have to. It wasn't like I was her boyfriend.

{Time Skip}

That night, I did push up, sit ups, jumping jacks…anything to make me sweat off this feeling. I took a shower before going to the Grand Hall for supper. I sat with Grant and a few others but I barely heard their conversation.

When I looked up, I saw Cammie being dragged into the Hall with her friends. She had a horrified look plastered on her face and she didn't stay long. I got up and left right after her.

Now I was up to talking to her. It wasn't like I could avoid her. I caught up with her just down some corridor. Her hand trailed the wall and she stopped at the tapestry, staring at it with the saddest expression. I stared at her before saying, "You know, I don't think I ever got the rest of my tour."

She spun around and looked at me. After a minute, her expression was still blank so I said, "So what do you say, Gallagher Girl?"

I walked up to her and hooked a finger behind the tapestry and peeked behind it. Darkness.

"Is this when I get my Cammie Morgan no-passageway-too-secret-no-wall-too-high tour?" I asked. I'm not stupid. I've heard the stories of little Cammie Morgan disappearing in the middle of a corridor.

"How do you know about…" she managed to say, still looking at me.

"Spy," I pointed to myself. It was something I had picked up when I met Grant (_long_ story). I leaned against the wall. She still wasn't voluntarily talking. "So, that was Jimmy?"

Immediately, her face flushed red. I smirked.

"Josh," she corrected.

I waved it way. Not like I cared about that anyway. "Whatever."

She rolled her eyes, seeming to recover. "What do you want Zach?" she asked. When I didn't answer, she crossed her arms and said, "Mock away."

I stared at her. She is inviting me to mock her weakness, her mistake. This girl must be really shaken up if she was really asking me to do that.

"Gee, you know, I would…but you just took the fun out of it."

She didn't seem to care. "Sorry." Cammie went to side step around me but I blocked her.

"Why'd you freeze you there today?" I asked. The question just popped up in my head and found it's way to my mouth.

She froze and I saw, for the first time, her Chameleon mask. "I'm fine. I'm over it."

I looked at her as she left. I knew she could hear me as she turned back the way I came.

"No you aren't, Gallagher Girl. But you will be."

**Like it? Review. And I'm sorry for the long wait, like I said, complicated.**

**~SnixX321**


	6. Unauthorized Missions and Annoucements

"Zach! I'm in!" Jonas said from his bed. I went over to him, careful not to seem too eager. Grant sat on the other side of Jonas.

On Jonas's computer screen was a list of many girls. He had hacked into the Gallagher Academy security system when I had asked him to. I wanted to know what was bothering Cammie during our mission in town. I was determined to find out but in order to get the information I wanted, I needed Jonas. He happily played along.

"It was hard," Jonas chatted. "Whoever put up those firewalls was really good…I wonder who it is? Grace May, you think? She was a pretty awesome CIA hacker. I heard she had some favors due to Rachael Morgan. Or maybe it wasn't her? Oh, I know! It was Regina F-"

"Click on her name," I pointed to a name that said 'Cameron A. Morgan'. Jonas shut up and clicked on the name. He handed me the computer and I read.

**Name: Cameron Ann Morgan**

**Student ID #1245780**

**Room #245**

**Age: Classified**

**Grade: Classified**

**Birthday: Classified**

**Grades: Classified**

**Achievements: Classified**

**Father: Classified**

**Mother: Classified**

I stopped reading because all these 'Classified's were getting really annoying.

"Jonas," I said. He looked up from his book.

"Yes?"

"Why are there so many classifieds?" I asked and showed him her file.

"Oh," he frowned. "I didn't think we'd have to hack inside the file too…here, let me see it…"

A few minutes later, Jonas had only hacked a few files. The 'Age', 'Grade', 'Birthday' and 'Grades' were still classified but those weren't important to me.

I reread the file.

**Name: Cameron Ann Morgan**

**Student ID #1245780**

**Room #245**

**Age: Classified**

**Grade: Classified**

**Birthday: Classified**

**Grades: Classified**

**Achievements: Successfully followed father through the mall for four hours. When asked why, she said, 'I just wanted to know what my presents were.' Successfully decoded unknown code #23454. Successfully completed unauthorized mission #346.**

**Father: Matthew Morgan reported MIA**

**Mother: Headmistress Rachael Morgan of Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women**

I frowned. Her father was MIA? For how long? Wish I knew… Her mother I already knew about. The other stuff I didn't care about. Except for her 'Achievements'. What was this unauthorized mission?

"Jonas," I looked at him. "Can you find an unauthorized mission?"

"Yes, it should be in the CIA database. I've hacked that database so many times, I could be in there in a few minutes," Jonas said. "Why? What mission are we talking about?"

"Unauthorized mission #346," I told him.

He pursed his lips. "I've never looked for an unauthorized mission but I'm sure I'll find it."

Jonas clicked away at his computer. It amazed me how fast he was with those fingers of his. Soon, he told me he had hacked into the CIA database and was searching for the mission.

"What number again?" he asked without pausing his fingers.

"346."

"Oh, here it is," Jonas said happily and handed me back the computer.

I looked.

**Mission #1468023579**

**Unauthorized mission #346**

**Mission Agents: Operative Cameron Morgan, Operative Elizabeth Sutton, and Operative Rebecca Baxter**

**Mission Objective: Find out why Josh Abrams saw Operative Cameron Morgan, otherwise known as 'The Chameleon.'**

**Summary of Surveillance:**

After observing a Gallagher Academy operative (Cameron Morgan) on two routine assignments, The Operatives concluded that a young man (know at the time only as "Josh", aka Tell-Suzie-she's-a'-lucky-cat boy) was a POI (Person of Interest).

The Operatives then began a series of recon operations during which they observed the following:

The Subject, Josh Adamson Abrams, resides at 601 North Bellis in Roseville, Virginia.

Known associates: a scan of The Subjects's online activity revealed that he routinely e-mails Dillon Jones, screen name D'Man-(Also of North Bellis Street)- typically in regard to "really awesome" video games, "lame" movies, "my stupid" dad, and school assignments.

Occupation: sophomore at Roseville High School- home of the Fighting Pirates. (But evidently not fighting too hard, since a further search revealed that their record is 0-3.)

GPA: 3.75. The Subject exhibits difficulty in calculus and woodworking. (Rules out career as NSA code breaker and/or home improvement television "Sexy Carpenter Guy." Does NOT eliminate possibility subject looks hot in a tool belt.)

The Subject appears to excel at English, Geography, and Civics (which is great because Cammie is English-speaking and very civil!).

Family: Mother, Joan Ellen Abrams, 46, housewife and very experienced pie baker. Father, Jacob Whitney Abrams, 47, pharmacist and sole proprietor of Abrams and Son Pharmacy. Sister, Joy Marjorie Abrams, 10, student.

Unusual financial activity: none, unless you count the fact that someone in the family is way too into Civil War biographies. (Can this be a possible indication of Confederate insurgents still living and working in Virginia? Must research further.)

Respectfully submitted, Cammie, Bex, and Liz.

**(A/N: The 'Summary of Surveillance' was taken straight from Ally Carter's first Gallagher Girls book, "I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You'. All credit goes to her…)**

I read and reread the report over and over again. Obviously, no CIA agent wrote this. The signature at the end only confirmed this. But Macey McHenry was never in there. She must not have been at the school by then or maybe she wasn't here. Who knows? I'd have to research Macey in the Gallagher database.

Of course, the report didn't end there. There were plenty more reports, the next one being about them going through his trash and analyzing it.

The girls are good if they gained this much information but something bothered me. These girls went as far as digging in his trash to get close to him? And it seems like they were doing it all for Cammie. This explains Cammie's behavior around Jimmy today.

Well, at least he's out of the picture now.

{Time Skip}

The next morning, I went to COW class and sat next to Cammie. She didn't even glance my way and she didn't pay attention to the teacher, like all the other times. Did I do something wrong?

"What's the matter, Gallagher Girl?" I asked as we left COW for C&A. "You seem…jumpy."

She chewed her lip and bit back whatever she was going to say. We went into the C&A classroom. Madame Dabney was at the center of the room excitedly telling us about our all-school exam.

"The all-school exam…" she said dreamly. "Ooh, ladies," Madame Dabney eyes the girls then seemed t realize there were boys in the room also and quickly added. "…and gentleman. In all my years of teaching at this fine institution, I have never had the opportunity to organize such an exciting educational experience!"

All eyes were now on her. Not that they weren't before…okay, they weren't but can you blame us?

"This Friday evening, all students in grades eight through twelve will be invited to a formal examination!" Madame Dabney squealed and waited for our reaction. When nobody moved, she yelled, "A ball, ladies and gentlemen! There's going to be a ball!"

A few of the girls gasped and I saw some eyes widen. Some of the guys swallowed. I glanced at Cammie. She had this horrified look on her face but I realized no one could see it. She was muttering to herself about…mice?

"Tomorrow during this time, you will each be fitted for a gown," Madam Dabney beamed at her girls. "And tuxedos," she added. Our C&A teacher seemed to be forgetting about the guys a lot… "On Friday evening you will be asked to participate in a cumulative examination—a night that will encompass everything we teach. And you will be expected to dance!"

The girls in the room were very excited. I think they only heard 'gowns' and 'dancing'. They need to get these girls out more.

One last glance at Cammie's smug grin told me I was in for a rematch.

**Okay, so, not as long as my other chapters or as eventful but…still. Good, right?**

**Review, anyone? They really do inspire me to update more!**

**~SnixX321**


	7. Grand Hall

**Guess what, my awesome readers? It's the ball time of the story! :D I'm gonna try and add some humor in this one. You know…we never did find out how the boys got there tuxes. ;)**

**Oh and I'm going to add a little side of Zach you haven't seen…his romantic/cheesy side :)**

**Enjoy.**

I groaned. This tux was way too tight.

"God, Jonas," I breathed in or more like _tried _to breath in. "What size did you get me?"

"Uhh…" Jonas came out wearing a baggy tux. "I think you got the wrong tux, Zach."

I turned to the mirror…and grimaced. I looked like a monkey and my face looked like a tomato. Grant came out wearing a perfect size tux, looked at me and then Jonas and promptly burst out laughing. I slapped his head and me and Jonas went into the bathroom to change tuxes.

I could breathe again.

It was now time to go to the ball. We were getting covers and such. After all, it was an exam but I planned to have some fun all the same. These girls worked hard on this 'prom/ball' thing. After Madam Dabney's sentence, I don't think a sentence in Gallagher Academy didn't contain the words ball, bobbypin, gown, dress, and such words like that coming from the girls mouth. It got annoying after awhile.

We left our dorm and made our way to the Grand Stairs. I saw girls everywhere. Actually, I think some of my fellow Blackthorne Boys were hyperventilating there were so many girls. Before, they were just _girls _in _uniforms_. Now, they were all bursting with personality.

My eyes searched the crowd of teachers, girls, and boys until they landed on one girl in a strapless red dress. Grant and Jonas disappeared somewhere and I slowly made my way to stand behind Cammie.

"Well," I said. She turned and saw me staring at her, looking her up and down. I don't think she noticed her blush. I leaned against the railing and crossed my arms over my chest. "You don't look hideous."

_Gorgeous. Amazing. Beautiful._

Cammie glanced around, a bit frustrated then answered me. "Ditto."

That was all she could say? I thought I looked handsome, if not sexy.

Still, she made me laugh and smile, which was a first since I always smirked. When I finally stopped laughing, I noticed her face looked a bit flushed so I took her elbow in the formal way and said, "Easy, Gallagher Girl."

Before I could drag her to the dance floor (my only excuse to hold her close), she pulled away.

"I am perfectly capable of walking down the stairs by myself."

Stubborn and sassy as always.

I opened my mouth but Madame Dabney had passed us when Cammie said that and she scolded Cammie, "A lady always gracefully accepts a gentleman's arm when offered, Cammie dear."

Cammie flexed her jaw, accepted my arm and we carefully walked down the stairs. She was tense the whole time we walked down. I smiled at her. She frowned at me.

"Stop it."

I faultered. "What?"

"You're enjoying this way too much. You're smirking," she narrowed her eyes.

You have got to be kidding me? Is this girl always suspicious? I got a little irritated and…maybe snapped at her as we reached the foyer.

"I got news for you, Gallagher Girl, if you're not enjoying this, you're in the wrong business."

She stared at me. I saw emotions flicker in her eyes like the turning pages of a book but before she could say anything (you know, like, maybe _apologize_), Mr. Solomon came up to us with a stack of papers.

"Hello, ladies and gentleman. You all look very nice, but I'm afraid you aren't quite finished getting ready," he said.

And just like that, Gallagher Girl's attention was snatched away from me.

"I'm afraid we didn't mention that tonight is something of a _masquerade _ball," he told us.

Leave it to Mr. Solomon to freak out _every _girl here with one sentence.

A girl in the back screamed a little and some gasps were heard.

"But we haven't got masks or…disguises or—" one girl say to Solomon.

"These are your disguises, Ms. Bauer," he said and began handing us folders as he talked. "Cover legends, ladies and gentlemen. You have three minutes to memorize every piece of information within them. Even if you are _not _on the CoverOps track, Ms. Sutton. Spies are the ultimate actors, ladies and gentleman. It's the heart of what we do. So tonight your mission is simple: you will become somebody else."

Everyone was silent. None of saw this coming, yet we should have all expected it.

"It's an exam, people. Culture, languages, observation…The real tests in those subjects don't have anything to do with words on a piece of paper. Tonight isn't about knowing the answers, ladies and gentleman. It's about _living _them.

Inside my folder was a drivers license, social security, and some more ID's.

When I looked up (not yet reading my name), I noticed Cammie had already handed back her folder and was walking way…_after a minute_. Dang. She is just too good.

Don't tell her I said that.

So, if she wanted to play like that, I guess I would. I went in and enjoyed dancing with a lot of people. A lot. With the exception of a few that my legend was not compatible with. Liz was quite fun to dance with. She told me everything about her legend, which I don't think was necessarily a good thing but, you know, whatever. I danced with the First Lady of France (A.K.A. Headmistress Morgan and Cammie's Mom). I danced with a princess of a small European country. I danced with the Head of the Department of State. I danced with the daughter of a governor in California.

All the while, I paid attention, not missing a single detail. Good thing, too. Mr. Solomon was quizzing us the whole time.

He looked at me. "The security guards in here all have something in common with their ties. What would that common factor be?"

"The color blue," I said breezily as I let Ms. Renee (Captain of the SS Arizona) twirl away. He smiled and walked away.

I saw Cammie a few times—even found out her cover. Tiffany St. James. For some reason, the name bothered me. I could only see Cammie as Gallagher Girl or Cammie. Not Tiffany or Ms. James. But from what I heard about her, she was doing well, completing her tasks like they were nothing.

Then, while I was dancing with a random girl, I spotted Cammie talking to Mr. Mosckowitz. I smirked. _Time to have some fun_.

I abruptly stopped dancing with the girl in the middle of the song. She glanced at me worriedly and I politely said I had to use the bathroom. I walked off before she said anything. I grabbed two glasses off the food table and made my way over to them.

"So tell me, Tiffany, are you enjoying the party?" I heard Mr. Mosckowitz say as I approach her from behind.

"Tiffany is the _life _of the party," I said, joining in on the conversation.

And it was true, in a way. Cammie (or Tiffany, as she was known at the party) has been dancing and socializing. I swear to you if the girl wasn't a spy, she'd be a wedding or party planner. She also looked beautiful in her red strapless dress and heels so that made her ten times more approachable.

"Excuse me, Mr. Secretary," I said, holding out a glass to him. "but I believe this is your drink."

It wasn't but hopefully he'll play along.

"Oh yes. It is!" he said, twirling his fake mustache with one finger. He leaned and whispered to Cammie. "It is my drink, isn't it?"

"Yes," she whispered back.

"Thank you, my good man," Mr. Mosckowitz said to me, suddenly becoming British. "Good show! I saw you dancing earlier. Wonderful, just wonderful! Isn't that right, Tiffany?"

'Tiffany' had been staring across the dance floor at her mother, who I could tell was worried but her face was moved out of my vision, so I couldn't tell what she was worried _about_. I think that killed me as much as Cammie but I'll figure it out later.

When Mr. Mosckowitz had said Cammie's cover name, she had snapped her head to look at him. I could tell she hadn't heard a word he had said. _Not good, Cammie, not good_, I thought. So I covered for her.

"I wonder, Mr. Secretary," I said to him. "would you mind if I borrowed Tiffany for a moment?"

"Not at all!" Mr. Mosckowitz grinned and moved on to test the next student. I looked at Cammie. She had this look on her face. You know, the 'I-wish-I-was-anywhere-but-here' look.

"They're playing our song," I said smoothly and pulled her onto the dance floor, hoping she didn't object.

I heard all kinds of things around me. Like the fact that some girls in the corner were gossiping about a few Blackthorne boys, or the fact that Solomon is now talking to Tina Walters. I saw a lot of things. But I blocked it out. For Cammie.

"So, tell me," I said, bringing Cammie closer to me and starting to twirl her around. "Tiffany St. James, what does a girl like you do for fun?"

Instead of answering my question, she snapped quietly, "I didn't tell you my name was Tiffany St. James. How did you know?"

Sassy, smart, beautiful _and _observant.

I played it off because if I told her I had been listening in on every conversation involving her I would sound like a stalker and I, personally, don't think that would go over well with Cammie.

"Oh," I tilted my head. "I always make it a point to know the names of"- I pulled her tight against me- "beautiful women."

Then I dipped her and almost laughed out loud at the alarmed look she now had on her face. So I winked. I pulled her back up and spun her.

"Come on, Gallagher Girl, relax a little," I said because I could tell she wasn't enjoying this one bit.

I saw a look of horror cross Cammie's face as we danced so I stopped dancing, thinking something horrible wrong was going on.

"Hey," I shook her slightly because she was as still as a statue. What was wrong? "Gallagher Girl? You okay?"

Her horror striken face remained.

**Aha. Yeah, we'll finish up the Ball scene next chapter. I bet you all know what's going on in Cammie's mind… ;)**

**HappyEaster! May you stuff yourself with chocolate bunnies. Lol.**

**~SnixX321**


	8. The Library

"I have to go," she said frantically, pulling away from me.

"Ms. Morgan!" Madame Dabney said as she, again, walked passed us.

"I mean," Cammie said, putting on a sizzling smile and turning back to me. "if you could excuse me for a moment."

I held onto her hand.

"Thank you very much for the dance," she said and then walked away, leaving me standing there more confused than before.

I watched as she got stopped by several people then frowned. Where was she going? Where was her favorite place to be?

Aha! The library! I smirked to myself triumphantly and neatly made my way out of the crowd and out the door. I didn't see her on her way to the library but I knew she was going to be there so I walked faster, hoping to beat her there.

I leaned against the wall, waiting for her. Finally, she came in and a sigh of relief blew through her mouth but her eyes immediately widened with fear when she saw me. Was she afraid of _me_?

"Hey, Gallagher Girl, I thought I'd find you here."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, biting her lip and looking nervous.

"Looking for you," I said. Obviously.

"Why?" she asked, the horror leaving her face for a moment to be replaced by confusion.

"Because this is where you came the other day."

"Oh."

"I thought this might be where you come…when you're upset."

I honestly wish I knew she was afraid of…I might actually be able to help her.

"So what is it, Gallagher Girl?" I asked.

Two very weird things happened then.

One, I could have sworn I heard a soft _thump _under Cammie's feet. What that was, I had no clue.

But I had no time to wonder because then, a siren went off and the words "CODE BLACK CODE BLACK CODE BLACK!" about blew my ears straight off my head.

Then the lights went out.

**Liikkkeee? Short, I know but I wanted to save the exciting stuff for next chapter. You know, so we can have it all together!**

**Leave me a review?**

**~SnixX321**


	9. Emergency Lights

Before I had time to think, the lights were starting to fade and I was running down the halls with Cammie pulling me along. The only light source we had at the moment was the moon and even that was going to be gone soon due to the steel doors that were sliding over the stained doors.

Cammie seemed to be in a panic as she rushed down the hall ways. I didn't know where to go, what Code Black meant, or what was happening, so I followed Cammie since that was the only logically thing to do.

We hada close call with something that burst into flames next to us. Luckily, Cammie avoided it and we kept running. The most surprising thing that happened was the lanterns, which I thought was just for decoration, sprang to life with pale yellow light that drove away some of the darkness.

"I thought those were for decoration!" I yelled to Cammie.

I barely heard her over the sirens. "If everything goes right, they are," she said calmly, but her body movements and eyes said she was anything but calm.

Puzzles pieces were starting to be put together in my head as people ran past us in the dim lighting. "So this means…"

"Something is seriously not right," I heard Cammie breath more to herself than anyone else.

Things were changing all around us. Bookcases disappeared, doors swung shut and locked themselves without any help from humans, and I was blinded. My eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness then we'd run through a brightly lit corridor with many of the lanterns and I'd have to adjust my eyes again.

"It's security protocol. It must have been a breach," Cammie explained to me over the loud commotion. "The whole system goes into lockdown—nothing gets in," and right before she said her next words, behind us a steel door fell down and blocked the hallway we had just came from. "and nothing gets out."

As I watched the walls around us change and the Gallagher Academy change from a spy school to a school in lockdown, I noticed the girls of this school panic but at the same time they knew what they were doing. Boys of Blackthorne didn't know what to do, though they were calm. It was one of the first things your taught even if you don't go to a spy school. Stay calm.

"Does this happen a lot?" I called to Cammie.

She took a deep breath and looked around her before briefly meeting her eyes with my own. "No."

Her answer was…interesting. It was hard to explain. Anyway, when we reached the foyer, the crowd of people started to become thicker. It made holding onto Cammie's hand that much harder since our hands were slick with sweat.

I lost her. It made me panic more because I worried for her, but I remembered to stay calm and also remembered one of Solomon's first lessons.

I looked around me. Maybe I could find her, get more of explanation of what's going on here (even though she looked like she didn't know herself), and saw emergency lights going off everywhere. I also noticed Grant in the corner. He was looking around, confused as I was.

I made my way over to him. "What's going on? Do you know?"

When Grant saw me, he let out a sigh of relief despite the chaos still going on around him. Typical Grant. "No. I don't. Do you?"

Obviously, I didn't. I kept my mouth shut I watched Gallagher girls sprint around their school helping with the lockdown. Like Cammie said, something was terribly wrong.

**I hope you like it. This is just the beginning to the loads of excitement I have planned. ^.^**

**Thanks for reading. Drop me a review?**

**~SnixX321**


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